Wall Street was in a pessimistic mood on Tuesday morning, and investors bore the brunt of bad news on the trade front. The U.S. Commerce Department cited human rights abuses in adding more than two dozen Chinese companies to a list of businesses with which U.S. companies are not to work, and Chinese officials vowed to retaliate against their American counterparts. By just after 11 a.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) was down 255 points to 26,223. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) fell 31 points to 2,907, and the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) lost 89 points to 7,867.
The morning was a contentious one, as pilots at Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) decided to take their issues up with Boeing (NYSE: BA) in a lawsuit. Meanwhile, Domino's Pizza (NYSE: DPZ) released quarterly financial results that included some troubling numbers, but investors shrugged off business concerns and instead focused on one key move from the pizza giant.
Shares of Southwest were close to unchanged after the company's pilots' union alleged that the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft is unsafe. The suit claimed more than $100 million in lost wages as a result of what pilots called "a calculated decision to rush" the 737 MAX to market, and it alleged that Boeing "abandoned sound design and engineering practices" in "deliberately mislead[ing] its customers, pilots and the public."